Second Congress of the R.S.D.L.P.

July 17 (30)-August 10 (23), 1903

15.  Report on the Party Rules

Lenin(the reporter) gives an explanation of the draft Rules submitted by
      him. The basic idea of the Rules, he says, is that of a division offunctions. Hence, the division into two central bodies, for
      example, is not due to their geographical division (Russia and abroad),
      but is a logical consequence of a division of functions. It is the
      function of the Central Committee to exercise practical leadership, that
      of the Central Organ to exercise ideological leadership. To co-ordinate
      the activities of these two central bodies, to preclude disunity between
      them, and, in part, to settle disputes, a Council is needed, which should
      not at all be purely an institution of arbitration. The paragraphs in the
      Rules which govern the relations between the Central Committee and the
      local committees, and define the Central Committee’s competence cannot and
      should not enumerate all the points within that competence. Such an
      enumeration is inconvenient and impossible, for it is inconceivable that
      all possible cases should be foreseen, and, more over, points unprovided
      for might appear to be outside the competence of the Central
      Committee. The Central Commit tee itself should be allowed to determine
      the sphere of its competence, since any local matter may affect the
      interests of the Party as a whole, and the Central Committee should be in
      a position to intervene in local affairs, even going against local
      interests, should such action be in the interests of the Party as a whole.